The Bf 54, designed in 1938 was an AH and Nazi Germany energy fighter design, which was to cast a standard for all fighters to come. A fine aircraft indeed, it was fairly manoeverable and was very fast for its time, being considered one of the best fighter aircraft of 1940 and would remain one of the best up until 1941 at which point more advanced planes were developed. This speed was reached only due to the powerful 1400hp powerplant it mounted at the time of design. It did not lack in the firepower department either, as It mounted a single MGFF/M as a motorkanone and four MG131/M in the wings. All of these weapons were generally loaded with belts containing a large portion of the deadly, high explosive Minengeschoss rounds.
Overall it was one of the best fighter design of the time.